8/17/2023 0 Comments Amusing ourselves to deathUnlike in England, in Colonial America reading wasn’t an elitist activity. Postman uses this lecture scene to paint a picture of what he says was probably the most print-oriented culture ever. America was the most reading-focused culture ever What’s even more remarkable is neither Lincoln nor Douglas were presidential candidates at the time – they weren’t even candidates for the Senate. It’s hard to imagine ordinary citizens gathering in the local lecture hall to sit and listen to seven hours of debate, without so much as a smartphone to stay occupied if things got dull. Yes, attention spans are shorterīut this scene from Lincoln’s debate from more than 150 years ago is a stark contrast from today’s world. It’s different technology, with the same people. If we think back to our own memories from ten or twenty years ago, we have to conclude that not much has changed. They’ll show you that old picture of men on a commuter train, with their faces buried in newspapers, or they might remind you Socrates worried people would be made forgetful by the breakthrough technology of: writing. There are also people who say it’s nothing new. WANT TO WRITE A BOOK? Download your FREE copy of How to Write a Book » (for a limited time) Is today’s technology “nothing new?”Įvery time a new technology comes along, there are people who think the sky is falling. He told the audience, Go home, have dinner, and come back for four more hours of lecture. Lincoln reminded the audience it was 5 p.m., he himself would be speaking for at least three hours, and Douglas would get a chance to respond. Douglas, had just finished a three-hour speech. In 1854, in a lecture hall in Peoria, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln was in a debate. Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”.Listen to Amusing Ourselves to Death Book Summary In this Amusing Ourselves to Death book summary, I’ll break down – in my own words – why Postman believes the shift from a society built around reading, to a society built around moving pictures and music, has devolved our discourse into a dangerous level of nonsense. This has weakened our ability to reason about society’s important questions. In his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman says everything has been turned into entertainment: Our politics, religion, news, athletics, our commerce – even our education – have all been turned into forms of entertainment. Subscribe to blog updates via email » Amusing Ourselves to Death Summary – Love Your Work, Episode 252Ĭan the way we consume information make us unable to tell truth from lies? Neil Postman thought so. Amusing Ourselves to Death Summary Home Blog About Podcastĭavid Kadavy is author of Mind Management, Not Time Management, The Heart to Start & Design for Hackers.
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